The electronics industry continues to rely upon advances in semiconductor technology to realize higher-function devices in more compact areas. For many applications realizing higher-functioning devices requires integrating a large number of electronic devices into a single silicon wafer. As the number of electronic devices per given area of the silicon wafer increases, the manufacturing process becomes more difficult.
Many varieties of semiconductor devices have been manufactured having various applications in numerous disciplines. Such silicon-based semiconductor devices often include metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET), such as p-channel MOS (PMOS), n-channel MOS (NMOS) and complementary MOS (CMOS) transistors, bipolar transistors, BiCMOS transistors. Such MOSFET devices include an insulating material between a conductive gate and silicon-like substrate; therefore, these devices are generally referred to as IGFETs (insulated-gate FET).
Each of these semiconductor devices generally includes a semiconductor substrate on which a number of active devices are formed. The particular structure of a given active device can vary between device types. For example, in MOS transistors, an active device generally includes source and drain regions and a gate electrode that modulates current between the source and drain regions.
Furthermore, such devices may be digital or analog devices produced in a number of wafer fabrication processes, for example, CMOS, BiCMOS, Bipolar, etc. The substrates may be silicon, gallium arsenide (GaAs) or other substrate suitable for building microelectronic circuits thereon.
The packaging of an IC devices is increasingly playing a role in its ultimate performance. Shortcomings in a particular package configuration may challenge the mounting process. For example, an IC component is placed onto to printed circuit board (PCB) and soldered on. The soldering process or package may cause the package not to lie flat on the PCB, the mounted package has substantial tilt. Furthermore, the quality of the soldering may not be visible on the finished populated PCB. Sending a PCB out into the field without the assurance of well-soldered (and well-observed) joint may pose a significant risk. This is of particular concern for IC devices subjected to harsh environmental conditions such as automotive or military applications in which extremes in temperature, humidity, mechanical stress are the norm. Field failure of a solder joint is not acceptable.
There is exists a need for a package with increased manufacturability and less susceptibility to tilting.